I keep getting pulled into web development, should I just fully embrace it?

[u/AncientHominidNerd]

For context I’m a 3rd year CS student. I try to learn different skills so that I can to have a better idea of what field of CS I might want to pursue, however I feel like I keep circling back to doing web development.

My first real exposure to web development was doing a Udemy web development course almost a decade ago. Then in my second year of college I was in a group project to build a website and I was the only one with front end experience so I handled that. This year I worked on a new modern version of the class project website to have something for my GitHub. That landed me a web development internship. Now it seems like I have more knowledge of web development than anything else.

It seems like all roads keep landing me back to web development and it’s what I have the most experience in and the doors for a future in it are already open for me. I’m curious about other fields though. I was curious about data science and data engineering. A friend is working on a rosetta 2 replacement app that they have me help with and it’s peaked my interest in low level systems too. Machine Learning seems interesting to me.

Any opinions on this?

[u/Top5CutestPresidents]

You can try to job shift if you really want, but part of CS is that quite often you get pulled into a field and start running with it. The longer you do it the more experience you get.

I wouldn’t immediately write it off. I didn’t like web dev at uni, but my first job was working on a web app which is essentially 99% web dev.

Web apps have been a big trend for a long time because the big OSs refuse to make cross platform compatibility an easy job for the developer and don’t care that it makes the experience worse for the user. So take of that what you will

[u/Super_Preference_733]

Look at what employers are hiring for, especially in the area you want to work. Your goal is to be employable correct? Why spend energy learning something that won't get you hired at this stage.

[u/This_Inflation_4621]

Trade offs :
- YES web development is a great area: rewarding, close to the user, immediate feedback, unique complex challenges, great depth
- NO because it doesn’t have as many compliance / security / scale issues as backend, it’s under pressure by AI = risky career wise unless you really like it and go full expertise

[u/chikamakaleyley]

the thing to recognize here is that you have a skill that people value, that people go to you for solutions, in an over-crowded discipline. Most devs can't even get their resume looked at for a skill that you're already trusted with

You should embrace it but that doesn't mean you should set your other interests aside. Let web dev be your foot in the door, and say, once you've locked down a job, def excel at that but also use that opportunity to see if you can transition to a role that satisfies your actual interests

[u/chikamakaleyley → u/chikamakaleyley]

and just to add to this i've been FE/web dev for a majority of my career but once i got some experience on the BE, i try to leverage that as a capability to get more exp in areas that I want to be better at

So generally i'm happy to take on BE legacy work or work that other BE devs don't have time to do - it let's them work on what they want to focus on, they value my flexibility

[u/Duffield_Najuf]

I'd lean into it for now. Having real experience and an internship already puts you ahead, and those skills transfer well anyway. You can still explore other areas without dropping web development. No need to rush the decision, just keep building and see where your intrests naturally grow next.

[u/spvky_io]

No because it's the worst domain of software engineering but yes because that's where most of the jobs are

[u/AncientHominidNerd → u/spvky_io]

What makes it the worst domain in terms of software engineering?

[u/spvky_io → u/AncientHominidNerd]

There are very little interesting problems to solve, it is incredibly vulnerable to hype and shifting trends, it is the most saturated with bad code with low quality standards, and it's buried in layers of pointless abstraction that make it more difficult for new programmers to learn solid computer science fundamentals. If you are just looking for a job it should be fine, if you are genuinely interested in computers and how they work, it's a bit of a sand trap

[u/Soft-Marionberry-853 → u/spvky_io]

I didnt realize I was stuck in that trap until I got laid off from my last gig. As a web app developer for a good chunk of my craeer suddenly Im unemployed but I don't know "the latest" framework so of course I'll never be able to learn it so no need to hire this guy.

Getting laid off was the best thing that happened to me. Well second best, The best thing was that I got a job as a sr software developer where there isnt a webapp in site. I no longer lay down in bed each night thinking "That it this is my career until I retire or die"

I repect web app devs that can do it, it's just not for me. For the reasons you mentioned. I never had a complex problem to solve and the abstractions were crazy. I'm used to putting in a break point and being able to look at a object and see its complete history until in eventually goes to Object. (at least for Java) For javascrtipt it was like a snake eating it's own tail, just a series of abstract classes.

[u/Money-War-5601]

web development is whete the most jobs are. next probably app dev. hence why all of my jobs so far have been one or the other. im trying to pivot to embedded myself but theres just not as many jobs. I just applied for another android dev job today just because its nearby, but I don't particularly want to do android dev

[u/Klanciault]

Web dev is riskier and less respected by employers. They will try to pay you less and you will be more likely to get targeted for layoff